by Lucinda Staniland
Most of us come to yoga with a whole lot of misconceptions about what yoga is. I was no different. Here are some of the mistakes that I made, and lessons that I learnt, as a new yoga student.
1. Asana does not equal yoga.
When I started doing yoga I was awed by the strength and grace of the physical practice I saw my fellow students doing. I couldn't wait for the day when I too would move with such beauty. I fell in love with asana.But asana (physical postures) is not … [Read more...]

by Kara-Leah Grant
Meet Lawrence Edwards, a neurotherapist, psychotherapist, and an expert in Kundalini Awakening. Lawrence is unusual in this field because he has a deep grounding in both Eastern and Western traditions, and applies them both to his work with Kundalini.Join Lawrence and I as we explore Kundalini awakening in the modern world: why it can be so freaky, how it is connected to mental illness, and the trials and perils of finding an authentic teacher.[tentblogger-youtube … [Read more...]

By Premaloka, Yoga on Waiheke
Join Premloka for her Awakened Heart Yoga Retreats and Workshops:Raglan, New Zealand 28th-30th October 2016
Kovalam, India August/September 2017.
Find out more here.Would you like more Happiness in your life? Would you like your practice to not only be connected to the physical body, the mind, and your breath, but to also transform you emotionally?
Through working directly with the chakras and then connecting with the Bhavas (the body’s emotional … [Read more...]

by Kara-Leah Grant
I first met Jonni Pollard at Wanderlust Great Lake Taupo in 2015. He was leading the mass meditation at 7pm on the Saturday night. I'd bumped into the other Jonnie from Wanderlust - Jonnie Halstead - hovering nervously around the Mothership, which turned into the mainstage and dance floor in the evening.
Jonnie with an E confided in me that this dude from Melbourne - also called Jonni - was about to lead a mass meditation and he wasn't sure how it was going to go down.
Yes, … [Read more...]

By guest author Tara Springett, Buddhist Therapist and Teacher
My own Kundalini awakened at the age of twenty four during three courses of bioenergetic therapy, in which we held painful body postures while screaming our heart out.It was a rough approach and it achieved what it set out to achieve: it ruptured my repressive ‘body armour’ and allowed the life-force and Kundalini to flow more freely.Fifteen years later I tried to purposefully increase the amount of my Kundalini through … [Read more...]

by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat
It's 7:15pm and I'm upside down on the carpet in front of the fire, balancing on my hands and knees, head hanging low, not quite touching the carpet.I'm meant to be on the computer, finishing off August's Monthly Digest. But Kundalini has other plans for me. There's been pressure building up in my neck and head all afternoon, and now that my child's gone to bed, I can feel what I need to do.So I do it.I forgo the computer, get down on the … [Read more...]

by guest author Jacinta Aalsma
A question that pops up regularly for most yogis and yoginis is;'How long you have been practising yoga?'I don’t have a clear memory of when I started practising or when I undertook that first life changing yoga class. I’ve been brought up with yoga, because my mum has been a yogini and yoga teacher for as long as I remember.Often, the assumption is therefore made that I’m super bendy and flexible and that I would make a great yoga teacher. After all, … [Read more...]

By Kara-Leah Grant
It can be scary, disorientating, dislocating and downright awful when Kundalini awakens.
Sometimes a Kundalini Awakening will look like mental illness, physical illness or emotional difficulties.
It can be difficult to figure out exactly what's going on, all you know is something freaky is happening.My own awakening began in 2000 and proceeded more or less unnoticed by me, except for strange jerkings of the body and poppings in the spine.A dangerous mix of emotional … [Read more...]

By Kara-Leah Grant
The following information is not gospel - it's just my reflections and my understandings based on my own experience of Kundalini Awakening.As always, don't believe a thing I say unless it resonates in your heart and works for you. Except maybe the bit about checking in with a medical professional if you have any physical symptoms - do that regardless!
So... what is Kundalini?
Kundalini is the feminine, creative, evolutionary force of infinite wisdom that lives inside … [Read more...]

Last week's article, Dude, where's my teacher, totally surprised me. I didn't expect people to resonate with it so much. There were all kinds of comments, as it flitted around the social media sky.The weird thing was, I'd written it on the Sunday night, exhausted, out of time, just wanting to go to bed, and I thought it had sucked.I knew I hadn't captured the most important nuances of my search for a Real Yoga Teacher.So I'm back to dish up those nuances and set the record … [Read more...]